What do you expect? People aren't going to be asking for articles about their charity work to be de-indexed.
If someone committed a crime, served their sentence, and is no longer required to report it to potential employers, it makes sense they would try to get it de-indexed or most employers would ignore them unfairly after a quick search for their name.
In the old days of newspapers, one could not hide a newspaper article from manual search in the library. Digital indexing is just making search a lot easier, but it should not make it different as a proces, by hiding parts.
ANECDOTE ALERT: I'm vaguely familiar with a local case of an alcoholic abusive father who went to prison for a short time, then spent a few years in rehab/AA. He's a really sweet guy now, extremely ashamed of his past and doing everything he can to make things right (financially contributing to his family and working on repairing their relationships). He was a nobody alcoholic, so his name never appeared in any newspapers, but imagine if it had - he'd probably be broke, homeless and drinking again in no time. This is a pattern we often see with the "town drunks", who everybody knows as such and so any attempts they make to clean up are immediately met with distrust or even worse ridicule. So they never change.
As an employer I would like to know who I am hiring and their history, good or bad. I have absolutely no problem hiring an ex-convict, but I care what is the crime and what position would make it not eligible - for example I would hire a thief, but not as a warehouse manager. In fact, not knowing about a potential problem is a bigger problem than "being unfair". I believe in redemption, but not in "born again".
Yes, which is why we have laws - to bring fairness to a system that is indifferent to it. And the ability to serve your time and then move on with your life is one of the ways.
I completely understand your point of view and I'd be similarly careful with someone who just got out of prison. Here's the thing: you said you wouldn't hire "a thief" as a warehouse manager, but someone who went to prison for theft, did their time, got out and has been probably more law-abiding than the rest of us is not a thief - they were a thief.
Again, caution makes sense for a recent offender, but after they do their time and don't do commit more crime for some time, it definitely becomes unfair to judge them for it. Unfortunately, most people don't see it this way, they only see a criminal, which is why employment is such a big problem for ex-cons (esp. in the US) and why I believe there should be a "right to be forgotten" at least after some time has passed.
// And hell, I'd love a former thief as a warehouse manager - who better to spot other employees stealing stuff than someone who knows exactly how it's done :)
In the end, you cannot make the universe fair by enacting human laws. Paid or not, mistakes from the past exist even if you hide it under the carpet. Same as you need to learn from history, not to ignore it, this particular history should be available, not hidden.
This obviously makes it hard for them to move on. It’s an impossible line to draw concretely, but there is a distinction between branding someone for life over what may have been a one time mistake and keeping an accurate and accessible record of the news.
The examples you used as examples are obviously pretty horrible and won’t draw sympathy, but there are obviously other crimes.
Maybe you are thinking of every deindex that you see articles written about?
There was a fraudulent website listing my vacation rental as their own with their own number listed as the "owner's phone number" and everything. The entire site is vrbo listings with fake owners number. Every property had the same number.
Do you know how hard it is to get a website taken down in the U.S.? Their hosting provider, GoDaddy, did nothing saying they don't deal in illegal matters and to contact the FBI. The FBI did nothing. The only thing that got the listing taken down was a DMCA request to GoDaddy on the photos and text as they were ripped direct ly from VRBO. In 48 hours my listing was removed. Site stayed up and my listing came back two more times. Each time I filed a DMCA with GoDaddy and the listing would be taken down. Even their BBB listing had multiple people calling it a scam. https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/cape-canaveral/profile/vacation-re...
Excerpt from the letter from GoDaddy:
If you have concerns regarding abuse issues (such as scams, etc) please submit a complaint using the form located at ABUSEFORM.COM. We are not able to assist you with abuse based complaints from the Intellectual Property Infringement Claims department.
If you feel that illegal activity is taking place with regards to this website content, you'll want to contact law enforcement. GoDaddy is not a law enforcement agency and cannot perform an investigation of this nature. We will be happy to assist law enforcement if they contact us directly about an open investigation.
Thank you.
Kindest Regards,
[REDACTED]
Go DaddyNope, I'm thinking of the notifications I get in my inbox from Google when they deindex articles from a couple major UK newspapers
From men the have beaten their partners, or been found guilty of rape to people who've been found guilty of fraud every deindex involves someone trying to hide something bad they've done